Clothes-wkhtgeb



"I. D. A. JOHNSON.

CLOTHES WRINGER. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9. I917.

Patented 00. 28,1919.

JOHN D. A. JOHNSON, or MUSKEGON, MICHIGAN.

cnornns-wamen'n.

Specification of Letters ratent.

Patented Got. 28, 1919.

Application filed March 9, 1917. Serial No. 153,547.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN D. A. JoHNsoN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at.

. shaft, and of a type commonly used in connectlon with washing machines for family use driven by small electric or gasolene motors, such as those described in my pending application for Patent No. 820,593, filed February 24, 1914. The present-invention relates entirely to the wringer and the operating lever and clutchmounted upon and associated with the wringer by means of which it is connected with and disconnected from a power driven shaft operatively connected with the prime mover. The particular arrangement of mechanism by which" the power shaft is rotated, and the construction and arrangement of washing machine parts with which my invention may be associated form no part of my present invention, and therefore need not be particularly described. The object of my invention is the production of'an improved-wringer having certain novel, useful and desirable features of arrangement and construction shown in the accompanying drawings and hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of a wringer embodying my invention; and Fig.2 is an end view of the same, viewed from a position to the right of Fig. 1.

' The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the figures of the drawings.

The movable parts of my improved wringer are mountedin a frame comprising the side frame members 11, gear casing boxes 1 secured to said members 1, an arched top cross bar 2, and a lower cross rod 3, all rigidly secured together. The bottom ends of the side frame members are suitably formed for attachment to the receptacle upon which the wringer is intended to be usedin the present instance the lower ends of the members being formed as legs extending laterally at their bases in the form of lugs 4L adapted to be bolted or screwed onto the fiat top rail or flat top of a washing machine. The sides 1 of the frame are each formed with a pair of opposed vertical grooves 5 forming a guideway for the reception of the boxes 6 which support the ends of the rolls 7, 8 and 9 of the wringer. As illustrated, the boxes 6 are formed with raceways which inclose balls 10 rotatably supporting the journals of the rolls, and adjacent the ball bearing boxes within the gear casing boxes 1 the journals or shafts 7 8 and 9 of the rolls are equipped with double intermeshing gears 7 8 and 9 which positively compel their proper rotation. Upon each side of the wringer frame are mounted three idler guide rolls 11, 12 and13, which are journaled in fianges ld projecting outwardly from the gear casing boxes 1?.

-The journal boxes 6 which support the lower roll 7 rest upon shoulders formed at the bottom of the rooves 5 of the side plates, and the middle r0 1 8 rests directly-upon the lower roll 7 The shaft of the upper roll 9 is extended a short distance beyond the frame at each end, and compression springs 15, 15, the opposite ends of which are engaged by the hooked ends of U-shaped straps 15 and 15 anchored respectively to the ends of the shaft and to hooks formed on the opposite ends of the cross-bar 2, and of sufiicient strength to overcome the weight of the roll, yieldingly hold the roll 9 elevated slightly above the roll 8. The top roll is arranged to be forced downwardly against the roll 8, and all the rolls pressed strongly but yieldingly together by means of a resilient cross-piece or leaf spring 16 which at ts ends bears on' the opposite boxes 6 in which the roll 9 is mounted and which is forced downwardly by the action of a hand-operated pivoted cam 17 bearing against ahollow interiorly screw-threaded cylindrlcal block 18 slidingly housed in a socket formed n the cross-bar 2 and coacting with the center of the spring through a screw 19 engaging the screw threads of the block and secured a mentary clutch member 22 secured to the driven shaft 23 operatively connected with the motor by means of a rocking lever 24: pivoted at an intermediate point between a pair of lugs formed at the side member 1 of the frame and ha ing its lower end forked and arranged to engage a peripheral groove formed on said clutch member 21. The upper end of said lever 24 is connected by a strong spiral spring 26 with a pin on the cam 17 at the lower end of the handle 27 by which said cam is operated, the arrangement being such that when the handle is operated to press the rollers together the clutch member 21 will be shifted into engagement with the clutch member 22, and when the handle is shifted in the reverse direction the rollers will be released and the clutch members simultaneously disengaged. A rod 28 is preferably arranged within the spiral spring 26to prevent it from whipping or swaying.

The yielding spring and rod connection 26.27 intermediate the handle and clutch is so arranged that in throwing the wringer out of operation the rolls will be released before the clutch members disengage, and since the member 21 then ofi'ers no torsional resistance the disengagement is effected with ease. Preferably, when the rolls and clutch are in engagement the spring 26 will be under slight tension, and as the rolls are released the spring contracts, and then, after the rolls are entirely disengaged, shifts the clutch member 21 to inoperative position. The tension that the spring is under when the rolls and clutch are in engagement also aids in eifecting a quick release of the rolls and gear, which in case of accident is sometimes of exceeding importance. Furthermore, this yielding connection is of value in preventing the possibility of damage to the machine by operating the handle 27 to engage the clutch members at a time when like parts of the clutch members 21 and 22 happen to be opposed to each other, under which conditions an unyielding connection would result in breakage if sufficient force were applied. With the yielding connection, the clashing together of the clutch lugs does no damage, whether the shaft 23 be running, or idle, at the time. F

, Preferably a rocking drain board 29 pivoted on trunnions journaled in the side frame members 1 and yieldingly held in one teac er yieldingly pressing said rolls together, said means including an operating handle yieldingly' connected with one of said clutch members.

2. In a Wringer, and in combination with a driven shaft equipped with a clutch member, a plurality of wringing rolls, one of said rolls having a shaft equipped with a complementary clutch member, an operating lever, means actuated by said lever for yieldingly pressing the rolls together, and a yielding connection intermediate said lever and said last mentioned clutch member for effecting engagement of the clutch members.

3. In a Wringer, and in combination with a driven shaft equipped with a clutch member, a plurality of wringing rolls, one of said rolls having a shaft equipped with a sliding complementary clutch member, an

..operating lever, means actuated by said lever for yieldingly pressing the rolls together, a rocking lever connected with said sliding clutch member, and a coiled spring connected to said operating handle and said rocking lever and constituting a yielding connectingrod.

1. In a wringer, andin combination with a'driven shaft equipped with a clutch memher, a plurality of wringing rolls, one of said rolls having a shaft equipped with a sliding complementary clutch member, an operating lever, means actuated by said lever for yieldingly pressing the rolls together, a rocking lever connected with said slidin clutch member, a coiled spring connecte .to said operating handle and said rocking lever and constituting a yielding connecting rod, and a rod arranged within said coiled spring. 

